Warsaw. Tusk on the Last Generation blockades: I called on the services to react decisively

Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke about road blockades organized by climate activists. For a week, the Last Generation has been organizing blockades of Wisłostrada. The Prime Minister said that he called on “the services to react decisively and counteract such actions.” “We will not be intimidated,” the organization replied.

Since last Monday, November 25, activists from the Last Generation have been carrying out short-term blockades of Wisłostrada. The members of the organization explain that they are protesting against the passivity of the Polish government regarding the climate crisis. They warn that this heavily trafficked capital artery will be a permanent site of civic resistance. Blockades are organized there during the morning rush hour, but sometimes also in the afternoon. Sometimes drivers react nervously, on Wednesday it was a step away from fisticuffs. The police remove the blockers, usually within a few or a dozen or so minutes.

“I called the appropriate services”

Activists demand the quick fulfillment of two main demands: transferring all funds from the construction of expressways and highways to public transport and introducing a ticket for PLN 50 a month for regional transport throughout the country.

The Last Generation called on Prime Minister Donald Tusk “to go in front of the cameras and issue a public statement committing to implement the demands.”

On Monday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk referred to the issue of blockades in a post on the X platform. “Blocking roads, regardless of political intentions, poses a threat to the state and all road users. Today I called on the relevant services to react decisively and counteract such actions,” wrote the President of the Council. Ministers.

“The time for lecturing is over”

As the spokesman for the Warsaw Police Headquarters, junior inspector Robert Szumiata, emphasizes in an interview with tvnwarszawa.pl, behavior such as blocking roads poses a real threat to health and life.

– We try to respond in two ways. If possible, we operationally determine where such blockages may occur. And if we are unable to determine it, we respond immediately to signals from outsiders who call us or to what the police notice while in the area. The police always respond immediately to any signal of breaking the law, said Szumiata.

– There is no leniency or lecturing on our part. The time for lecturing is over. We will respond decisively, in accordance with the regulations, to prevent such cases from occurring, and if they do occur, we will punish such people, the policeman concluded.

In an evening entry on the website X, the Capital Police Headquarters calculated that this year alone, activists blocked traffic more than 50 times. “Investigative actions were initiated against 335 people. 134 applications for punishment were submitted to the court. 196 cases are pending. In each case of violation of public safety and order, the Police will take immediate and decisive action,” KSP assured in the entry.

“A step towards authoritarianism”

In the evening, the Last Generation responded to the Prime Minister in the same way. “Today you threatened on Twitter that you will discipline the services to make them suppress the protests more forcefully. So far, you have not responded to any letters with demands that we addressed to you, but directed them to the Ministry of Infrastructure,” the organization wrote on the X platform and reminded that Donald Tusk himself started with Solidarity protests. “Today you stand where ZOMO stood, trying to silence people who are fighting for a safe future for themselves and their children,” pointed out the Last Generation. And it accused them of “declaring war on activists and climate activists” and taking a “step towards authoritarianism.” It compared Donald Tusk's entry to “calls by Kaczyński who wanted to bring tanks to protesting women.”

“You believe that the threat to the state are people who fight for dignity and security for all inhabitants of Poland. People who cannot stand idly by and watch as the safe future of their children slips through their fingers. They cannot remain indifferent to the dramatic fate of those abandoned by the government. residents of Nysa, Głuchołazy and hundreds of other towns. They cannot agree to almost PLN 300 billion going to highways when several million Poles experience transport exclusion every day they are going to peaceful protests on the streets because they care about all drivers, about their grandmothers, about their children,” activists cited their arguments. And they called for transferring money from expressways and highways to public transport and introducing a regional transport ticket for PLN 50 per month.

“If this government's position is to continue leading us to climate collapse and silencing people who are sounding the alarm, the protests will intensify, not weaken. We will not be intimidated,” they assured.

Councilors and the mayor of Warsaw condemned the blockades

At Thursday's session of the Warsaw Council city ​​councilors from all political factions criticized the form of protest, which involves blocking the most important roadsconducted by activists from the Last Generation.

The mayor of Warsaw also spoke about the blockades. – I think they are harming themselves. Regardless of the issues related to what ideas they defend, any type of blockade harms the cause and is completely counterproductive. Moreover, they are illegal and both state and municipal authorities act with full determination – said Rafał Trzaskowski during Friday's press conference. – I am absolutely against this type of behavior – he emphasized.